Vacation
“Vacation, all I ever wanted
Vacation, had to get away”
- the GoGo’s
We used to have this rule in banking regarding the taking of vacations. Even though you only had 3 weeks in the early part of your career, you were required to take two of those weeks at the same time. The idea was that if you were gone for an extended period of time, there would be ample room for any potential financial impropriety to surface.
They needed you to be away for an extended period of time.
Perhaps it was that I had a more laissez-faire boss or possibly the financial requirements of a family 8 were the reason, but in 20+ years of banking, I never took more than a one week vacation. Toward the end of my banking career, I even tried to get them to let me carry over some weeks so that I could take 4 weeks in a row while serving at a Young Life camp with my entire family. The answer was “no”. It was one of those proverbial straws on the camel’s back.
Somehow I knew that if I could spend a month away in the mountains of my beloved Colorado, it would change my life. Once we began to build our coaching practice, one of the first things I did was take a two-week and then a three-week vacation. Our family approached it like living somewhere else for a season instead of just visiting. I was doing some writing every morning from a coffee shop, but I was able to be away from the office for 3 straight weeks.
Ironically, one of the bars established by many thought leaders in the coaching world has to do with vacation. If your business has truly matured and arrived, you should be able to take extended vacations without the business missing a beat. The fact that you’ve designed a business that can’t function without you confirms that you haven’t really created a business, you’ve just created a job.
One of our clients claimed he hadn’t ever been away from his business for more than a few days. The opportunity presented itself to be gone to the mountains for 7 consecutive days. He was convinced that it couldn’t be done. But he has articulated the culture and everyone knows what is expected from their positions. The vision is clear and the team meets regularly and can run the business without him being there.
He created a file. He laid out the company’s plans for the week and lined out each worker’s responsibilities. They met as a team and committed to handle the problems they encounter without his input. Typically, his phone buzzes throughout the day with calls and texts requiring his input, but strangely it never buzzed once during that week. They all rose to the occasion.
They needed him to be away for an extended period of time.
He came back a changed man, as I do after every one of my extended vacations. His heart and mind were clearer. He was operating with the freedom that only comes from realizing that everyone doesn’t depend on you.
He needed to be away for an extended period of time.
Consider
Is the idea of a vacation a far-flung notion?
Do you take vacations and encourage your team to do the same?
What needs to happen next in order to create a company that can function without you?
Where are you going to go for 2-3 weeks?